Fate Core and Tachyon Squadron - First Impressions

We're playing Tachyon Squadron for Fate Core while taking a break from the OSE Nostalgia Tour campaign. Military sci-fi featuring space fighters using a more narrative system seems like a nice change of pace. But I had to learn the system before we could jump into it. Easy, right?

On Fate Core

I had no prior experience with any version of Fate. Trying out the game as somebody else runs it would've been the ideal way to familiarize myself. Unfortunately, no such opportunities were on my horizons. I had to build system mastery on my own.

I had some reading to do.

In my misspent youth, I could devour a whole book in a day. Those days are a long way gone in my rear view mirror. It took awhile, but I read through both books. What I should do now is go through them again and make notes. But that's a lot of time and study for a relaxing hobby. I'll be winging it from this point forward.

Fate Core splits the narrative load between the gamemaster and players. This is different from older TTRPGs and those that follow in their footsteps. Many GMs and players resist the whole notion of sharing the narrative. GMs because they're accustomed to having near total control over everything in a game that isn't a player character. Players may resist since they aren't used to thinking in terms of narrative aside from their own characters. The learning curve for those not familiar with narrative play can be steep.

On the other hand, Fate has been around long enough to spread its influence around TTRPG design spaces. A fair amount of the 2d20 system from Modiphius borrows from Fate. Determination in Star Trek Adventures, for example, appears to be modelled on how Fate points are spent. The advantage/disadvantage mechanic many know from the world's best marketed TTRPG feels similar to maximizing/minimizing dice rolls in Fate. Elements of the system may seem awfully familiar to any TTRPG player.


On Tachyon Squadron

I've been shopping for a space fighter TTRPG for awhile. Many titles caught my eye, but I kept seeing recommendations for Tachyon Squadron wherever I went looking. Now that I've read through it, I can see why.

Fighter combat in Tachyon Squadron is built around the Maneuver Chart. It organizes all participants in initiative order. Those higher on the chart (usually the player characters due to their bonuses) get to stomp on the plebians beneath them. This is both typical of initiative systems and neatly models how energy states work in dogfights. Certain actions allow movement up and down the chart, simulating combat maneuvers. Overall, it's a clean and neat way of modeling a dogfight without having to set up a miniatures wargame in the middle of a TTRPG session.

Everything else in Tachyon Squadron runs using a streamlined version of Fate Core. Space fighter pilots spend a surprising amount of time running around away from their fighters in the source materials. Having a system that can handle both violent and not so violent interactions equally well is nice.

Finally, Tachyon Squadron deals with the stresses of being a space fighter pilot. Getting into dogfights, gun fights, fist fights, and dealing with whatever the plot happens to be is stressful. De-stressing in a positive way costs a Fate point and some of a pilot's limited free time. De-stressing in a way that lands a pilot in trouble earns a Fate point, but the trouble will be there to be dealt with and the miscreant behavior still takes up time. This models all the drinking, gambling, and other misbehavior common to space pilots.

I may report back once we're done kicking the tires on all this. Unless it turns into an utter disaster. In which case, I'll pretend this whole thing never happened.